Networking Flashcards
Security groups are attached to?
Elastic Network Interfaces (ENI) - and not instances
How do you explicitly block traffic within a VPC?
With NACLs. Security Groups do NOT support this.
Which protocol and port operates BGP on?
TCP/179
What is number range for ASN within BGP?
0-65535
Which ASN numbers within BGP are private?
64512-65534
What’s iBGP?
Internal BGP - Routing within an Autonomous System (AS)
What’s eBGP?
External BGP - Routing between Autonomous Systems (AS)
What are the “anycast IP addresses” of AWS Global Accelerator?
Two static IP addresses that serve as fixed entry point to an application hosted in one or more AWS region.
What’s the max. bandwidth of a single VPN connection (with two tunnels)?
1.25 Gbps
What’s the max. bandwidth of a Virtual Private Gateway?
For VPN connections: 1.25 Gbps
For DX connections: same as the DX connection
What are valid attachments for AWS Transit Gateway (TGW)?
One, or more, of the following:
- VPC
- VPN
- Direct Connect Gateway
- Transit Gateway Peering
- Transit Gateway Connect
Do AWS Transit Gateway (TGW) support transitive routing?
Yes, if route tables are set up correctly
What are key features of AWS Transit Gateway (TGW)?
Transitive routing, cross region (via peering) and cross account support.
IMPORTANT: they are regional components, so have to be placed in a specific region and be peered to provide cross-region support. This also means that they fail if a complete region fails.
Up to how many route tables can a subnet have assigned?
1 (and always 1 as a subnet must always have a route table assigned)
What network elements can route tables be assigned to?
- VPCs
- Subnets
- Gateways (IGW, VGW, TGW, Outposts local gateway)
What are the default limits of a route table?
50 static and 100 dynamic routes
What’s route propagation in the context of AWS VPC’s Route Tables, and what is the maximum number of connections in this context?
An option of route tables that allows Virtual Private Gateways (VGW) to dynamically add routes that the VGW learns from an attached VPN connection to it’s associated route table. The maximum number of dynamic routes that can be added via this way is 100 (per route table).
What are the criteria that a route table decides on where to route traffic to (starting with most relevant criteria)?
- Prefix length
- Static Routes
- Dynamic Routes (and inside Dynamic Routes: DX > VPN Static > VPN BGP > AS_PATH)
What’s a Gateway route table?
A special type of route table that can be assigned to Internet Gateways (IGW), Virtual Private Gateways (VGW) and Transit Gateways (TGW).
With which network component can you use Accelerated Site-To-Site VPN with?
Only with AWS Transit Gateways (TGW), so when creating a TGW VPN attachment.
What costs are associated with using an Accelerated Site-To-Site VPN?
What are costs for AWS Site-to-Site VPN connections based on?
- hours the VPN connection is provisioned ($/h)
- egress fee ($/GB)
- hourly fee for the two Global Accelerators
- accelerator transfer fee for the dominant direction
What are the two possible attachments for a Site-To-Site VPN?
- Transit Gateway (TGW)
- Virtual Private Gateway (VGW)
What are the bandwidths available for Direct Connect (DX) when provided natively by AWS (so called “Dedicated Connection”)?
1, 10 and 100 Gbps (the latter only at selected locations)
What’s a hosted virtual interface (VIF)?
It’s a virtual interface type that can be used to share a AWS Direct Connect connection with another AWS account.
What’s the maximum number of VIFs per AWS Direct Connect (DX) connection?
50 private/public VIFs + 1 transit VIF
What’s a Hosted Connection in the context of AWS Direct Connect (DX)?
It’s a DX connection provided by a AWS Partner that provides exactly one hosted VIF that a customer can acquire. Bandwidth of that VIF is exclusive to the customer.
What are the bandwidths available for AWS Direct Connect (DX) when provided by an AWS Partner?
50Mbps - 10Gbps
What’s important to know about Hosted VIFs when provided by an AWS Partner?
Unlike Hosted Connections, Hosted VIFs provided by an AWS Partner share the bandwidth with other Hosted VIFs on that same connection. Therefore, bandwidth could be lower than what’s been ordered/promised.
Are AWS Direct Connect (DX) connections sending data in plain text or encrypted?
In plain text, unless additional technologies such as VPN are applied.
What’s a Cross-Connect in the context of AWS Direct Connect (DX)?
The physical link between AWS DX router and Customer/Provider DX router inside a DX location. Note: this is NOT the physical connection between DX location and on-premise location.
Can Link Aggregation Groups (LAGs) use connections of different speeds?
No. All connections must have the same speed.
What’s the primary purpose of Link Aggregation Groups (LAGs)?
Speed. And NOT resilience (even though that they do improve certain resilience aspects of the architecture).
What’s the ‘minimumLink’ attribute used for within the context of Link Aggregation Groups (LAGs)?
It defines the minimum of healthy connections, at which the LAG is still considered healthy. For instance, with a LAG of 4 DX connections and a minimumLink of, the LAG is still healthy with only 2 DX connections.
What’s the maximum number of Virtual Private Gateways (VGW) per DX Gateway and can it be increased?
10
Cannot be increased
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/directconnect/latest/UserGuide/limits.html
Do Virtual Private Gateways (VGWs) support inter-VPC-routing?
No
What’s the maximum number of DX Gateways supported per DX Connection?
50
What are valid targets for an Application Load Balancer?
Target groups operating on HTTP/HTTPS level, using the following target types:
- EC2 instances (incl. ECS-provided instances)
- IP addresses
- Lambda functions
Can an internet-facing ELB communicate with EC2 instances from private or public subnets, or both?
Both (so also instances in private subnets are accessible for the ELB)
What’s an Interface Endpoint attached to?
A specific subnet, as an ENI (so they are not highly available by default!)
What’s a Gateway Endpoint attached to?
A VPC
What protocols do Interface Endpoints support?
IPv4 traffic over TCP only
How can you restrict access to an Interface Endpoint?
Via Endpoint Policy and via Security Groups (as it’s an ENI)
What’s the maximum single-flow network performance EC2 instances can communicate with each other in a Cluster Placement Group?
10 Gbps (vs. the 5 Gbps you’d have normally)
What are limitations (i.e. things to look out for) when creating Cluster Placement Groups?
- All EC2 instances must reside in the same AZ
- Requires a supported instance type
- All instances should be of the same type and started at the same time
What’s the maximum number of instances in a single AZ when using Spread Placement Groups?
7
What tenant options can you use for Spread Placement Groups?
Shared only. “Dedicated Instance” or “Dedicated Host” are not supported with Spread Placement Groups.